In the Morning, There Was Three
by Shannon K
Summary: A short one-shot with Lois and Clark in the morning. A bit AU with NO foul language. Read and review, please?


In the Morning, There Was Three

Disclaimer: I do not own Superman or any other recognizable characters from the DC universe. Please do not sue, for all you would get is my ABBA CDs, knitting needles, and a subscription to National Geographic.

A/N: This is obviously not cannon. I always thought the mind erasing thing from Superman II was positively stupid. I also like the character of Richard; I just didn't want to deal with him in this story. I also used the character Bruno "Ugly" Mannheim briefly. I am not overly familiar with all of the villains, except Lex Luthor and Zod, in the Superman comics but I thought he would be something I could use. If I got something wrong, please forgive me and chalk it up to ignorance and this being somewhat of an AU story.

* * *

"I hate you," Lois grumbled, barely lifting her head from the toilet, not even bothering to look at her husband of two years.

"You love me and you know it," Clark replied, not at all aware of the danger he was in. The next thing he knew, the toilet brush wand was flying at his head, launched by the prostrate form of the top reporter of the Daily Planet. Thankfully, his quick reflexes allowed him to catch the brush before it hit him, coating his invulnerable form with nasty germs and things he'd rather not think about. While he was pretty much invulnerable, certain things grossed him out; toilet brushes being one of them.

"We could have adopted you know. There are plenty of," Lois started to say, but was cut off by another round of full-body retching.

Clark waited until she was done and calmly handed her a glass of water, allowing her to rinse out her mouth.

This had not been an easy pregnancy for Lois. Even with all of the difficulties she had while pregnant with Jason, this was a study in human endurance.

First she had found out that she was pregnant with twins, but soon after finding out the blessed news, one of the babies stopped growing and died. While the other baby was declared healthy and viable, which was wonderful news, the pain of losing one of the twins was painful indeed.

Next, she endured hyperemesis gravidarum, resulting in a trip to the ER to rehydrate her and to at least temporarily stop the vomiting when she was about three months along. After that, she had a semi-permanent IV line inserted into her arm where she would be able to give herself an IV at home to replace the lost fluids and deliver Zofan through the IV to help stop the vomiting.

Afterwards, once the IV line was able to be removed, in true Mad-Dog Lane, ignoring Clark's and Perry's pleas for caution, managed to get herself kidnapped by the head of Intergang, Bruno "Ugly" Mannheim, who then exposed Lois to an airborne form of kryptonite – the green mineral had been ground into a fine powder and dispersed into the air. Mannheim planned on using a pregnant Lois as a trap for Superman, killing him with kryptonite, and eventually killing Lois. He mentioned something about raising the baby as his own personal Mini-me and eating the placenta, but Lois was too preoccupied by going into premature labor at five months.

Thankfully, with Jimmy Olsen's blessed help, Mannheim's plan was thwarted. He escaped unfortunately, but after Jimmy pulled Lois out of the kryptonite-infected room (and figuring out Superman's alter ego in the process) Clark was able to rush Lois to the hospital. With a combination of Ritodrine, the removal of the kryptonite embedded in her clothing and hair, and a sworn promise to God and on her mother's soul that she would take it easy for the remainder of her pregnancy, disaster was averted once again.

Now, Lois was in her thirty-seventh week and experiencing morning sickness once again. The doctor had told her that this was normal and since it was much lighter than what she had experienced earlier, told her not to worry, that this was a good thing. However, at the moment, hunched over the toilet bowl, it did not feel like a _good thing_. In fact, it made her fantasize about hunting the doctor down and wring his scrawny little neck while beating Clark to death with a pipe (for all of the good _that_ would do). And if one more person told her that in the end it would all be worth it, that she would forget the bad stuff, she would kill them and dump the body in the river.

Once she was sure she was finished, Lois allowed Clark to help her to her feet thankful for his warmth and strength. Despite every nasty thing she might say out loud, every gripe she had towards Clark and his every fault, she was thrilled to be having his baby once again, though this time she was more than pleased that the Man of Steel was actually in the solar system, on Earth, in Metropolis, this time.

While she knew and understood Clark's need to see what had happened to Krypton and had given her blessing to his journey, she regretted immediately that she had not fought harder for him to stay on Earth. When she found out that she was pregnant with Jason a few weeks after his departure, her regret turned to bitterness, therefore the article: Why the World Doesn't Need Superman.

However, this time, once they were able to put the past to rest and move forward they eventually aced the betting pools, and surprised the office (with the exception of Perry who cleaned up nicely, according to the rumors) and semi-eloped.

Their ceremony was simple; family, Perry, and Jimmy were in attendance with Jason serving as Best Man. Lois looked radiant in an ivory colored tea-length gown, while Clark looked handsome in a grey suit and shoes that actually fit him – sans coffee stain and ugly tie.

Now here they were, standing in the bathroom while Lois brushed her teeth.

"I'm sorry sweetheart," Clark said, not apologizing for anything specific (beyond apologizing for being a man and existing), but knowing that the words meant something to his wife.

"Thanks," Lois said through a mouth full of toothpaste.

She quickly finished and moved off to the bedroom to change out of her ratty bathrobe and flannel pajamas into a fresh set of pajamas. Even though she was on bed rest on doctor's orders and not allowed within five miles of the newsroom, she wanted to do some work for the Planet. Perry agreed, though with some massive amounts of grumbling on his, Clark's, and Richard's parts, to allow her to telecommute from home, proofing work for style and substance, not for spelling, before being sent off to print. It wasn't a lot, but it kept her from going stir crazy, being trapped in the house.

"Jason get off to school okay?" she asked.

"Yes. Your mother came by and is taking him. She said she'll pick him up after school and bring him home too if I'm otherwise preoccupied," he said, using air quotes with the word "preoccupied." Ella Lane was no fool and knew about his other job long before he and Lois told her.

Lois, who was struggling to get her head and arms through a long sleeved sleep top, spoke up. "Did you just use air quotes?" she asked, her head lost in the folds of material.

"No," Clark cringed, knowing that he could not get a lie past her. She had some sort of superpower of her own, being able to determine when one was trying to feed her a bunch of bull – big and small.

"So much for the Man of Steel never telling a lie," she snorted as she finally got her head through the v-neck opening. "Air quotes are so clichéd and over-used."

"Isn't that the same thing?" he asked, standing in the doorway, watching the love of his life, the mother of his children do something as simple as getting dressed. He thanked God every day for her and the children she gave him, making not feel so alone anymore.

"No."

"Is too," she retorted, playfully arguing with him, something that she only allowed him to do. Everyone else, would have been violently vivisected if they had even dared to think they were allowed to lightheartedly banter with her. Phil from the International section had once tried. He asked to be transferred to Iraq an hour later.

Suddenly, she stopped what she was doing, feeling that familiar cramping sensation that began in her back then moved to the top of her abdomen and traveled wave-like down to the bottom. She had been feeling pressure earlier, but figured that the baby was sitting on something, causing the aching. However, this time she knew what was coming.

"Clark, I think someone wants to make his or her presence known," Lois casually announced.

"You mean," Clark trailed off.

"Yep," she said just before another wave of labor pain took her over.

By the afternoon, baby Jonathan made four.

The end.

* * *

A/N: This was a quick, one shot story that kind of popped into my head. It's not perfect, but it served to distract me for awhile. Feedback is always welcomed, but if you want to flame me, trashing my first foray into the world of Superman, keep it to yourself. And incase someone asks, no I have not forgotten about my other stories. Give me a break Lorilei!

Thanks for reading my little story. Have yourself a lovely day!


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